Wichita African American historyNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94The latest podcasts and commentary from KMUW - Wichita 89.1 FM.NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Wichita African American historyMon, 19 Sep 2016 06:34:40 +0000Wichita African American historyhttp://kmuw.org
Carla EckelsA pastor in northeast Wichita is offering a Black History Video Series and community discussion every 3rd Sunday in Wichita. The idea to show videos and discuss African-American leaders stemmed from an incident at a public school on the East Coast. Godfrey Patterson, pastor of Wichita’s St. Paul AME Church, says a student there could not tell the teacher the name of the late civil rights leader Malcolm X. “They asked [the teacher], 'Who was Malcolm 10?'" Patterson says. "Well, that let me know that there was something wrong with the fact that we didn’t know, even our young people didn’t know, even a figure like Malcolm X." Patterson then began to show at his church videos that highlighted Black trailblazers: "Leaders like Martin Luther King, Adam Clayton, Malcolm X, Ella Baker, Mrs. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and the people who have worked alongside them as they have struggled to bring us to where we are today." Patterson aims for each session to be both educational and empowering forWichita Church's Black History Video Series Highlights African-American Trailblazershttp://kmuw.org/post/wichita-churchs-black-history-video-series-highlights-african-american-trailblazers
73137 as http://kmuw.orgThu, 15 Sep 2016 20:08:09 +0000Wichita Church's Black History Video Series Highlights African-American TrailblazersJay Price While working on the African Americans of Wichita book project, I was struck by how many prominent figures of the 20th century were veterinarians. For example, Dr. Thomas G. Perry opened the first small animal hospital on Cleveland Street in 1921, later joining the faculty of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Other figures included Dr. G. T. Bronson, Tuskegee airman Dr. Don Jackson and Dr. T. E. McDonald. Given that my father is a veterinarian, the number of animal doctors in the community definitely caught my attention. Several of these figures were graduates of Kansas State’s program, one that offered African Americans a measure of opportunity not found in many other areas. In the early 20th century, African Americans were severely limited in the medical fields. Not all medical schools allowed African Americans to join, and those who did graduate found themselves limited in terms of who they could treat and where they could practice. Hospitals, like so many other aspects of everydayAn Underappreciated Piece of Wichita's African American Historyhttp://kmuw.org/post/underappreciated-piece-wichitas-african-american-history
56970 as http://kmuw.orgTue, 22 Sep 2015 10:30:00 +0000An Underappreciated Piece of Wichita's African American HistoryJay PriceThe McClinton Market is gone. Back in 2011, things seemed more promising when the building at 1205 E 12th Street in Wichita was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. I remember that nomination; I was on the State Historic Sites Board of Review then. It was one of the few surviving early African American owned business buildings in the city. A modest frame structure, the building housed the store of Curtis McClinton. McClinton had come to Wichita in the 1940s and opened his business on 12th Street. Although a fixture in the city’s African American neighborhood around 9th and Cleveland, the store was more than just a local hangout. Soon after arriving in Wichita, Curtis McClinton became active in local civil rights efforts, including the NAACP. In 1956, he was elected to the Kansas State House of Representatives. In 1960, he was elected as Kansas’ first African American state senator. The market’s story is a good reminder that a nomination to the National Register callsThe McClinton Market Comes Downhttp://kmuw.org/post/mcclinton-market-comes-down
49176 as http://kmuw.orgTue, 07 Apr 2015 10:30:00 +0000The McClinton Market Comes DownJay Price As we think of the founders of the Wichita area, some names are well known: Mead, Greiffenstein and Munger among them. Others are less known but worth considering. One of them is Feldin Buckner. Buckner was the slave of a Judge Buckner in Kentucky. When Judge Buckner moved to Missouri, he freed Feldin... or "Fielding," depending on the source. Feldin Buckner married and had a large family. We know from the birthplaces of his eight children that the family moved to Iowa and Nebraska before they arrived in Kansas in the late 1850s, settling along the Whitewater. The 1860 census recorded the Buckners as living near Towanda in what was then Otoe County. Here, in the hinterland of what was still the Territory of Kansas, a freed slave was one of the most prosperous landowners in the area. When a drought struck that year, one report noted that, “he is the only person who has not deserted that neighborhood.” By the time James R. Mead established his trading post that vicinity in 1863, BucknerThe Success Of An Early Kansanhttp://kmuw.org/post/success-early-kansan
47195 as http://kmuw.orgTue, 24 Feb 2015 11:30:00 +0000The Success Of An Early KansanCarla Eckels It’s reported that less than half of the 2.5-million African American soldiers who registered for the armed forces at the beginning of World War II were called to serve. Those who were enlisted found that as they served their country abroad, they still faced less than a democratic reception at home. The Pittsburgh Courier, one of the most widely circulated African-American newspapers of its time, received a humble, patriotic, but assertive letter to the editor in 1942. It was penned by 26 year-old African American James G. Thompson of Wichita. Thompson wrote that the African-Americans willing to serve the U.S. in battle against foreign enemies were still being treated as second-class citizens at home. He proposed an expansion of the prolific ‘V for Victory’ sign – a push for social reform during the era of Jim Crow “separate but equal” laws: “The ‘V for Victory’ sign is being displayed prominently in all so-called democratic countries which are fighting for victory over aggression,Double 'V' For WWII Victory: African Americans In The Armed Forceshttp://kmuw.org/post/double-v-wwii-victory-african-americans-armed-forces
29923 as http://kmuw.orgFri, 07 Feb 2014 11:00:00 +0000Double 'V' For WWII Victory: African Americans In The Armed ForcesRobert E. Weems Jr.Dr. Galyn Vesey is a unique individual in the context of Wichita history. Vesey received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University and his academic career included stints at Utica College and Alabama A & M University. He not only represents “living history” but also seeks, as a scholar, to re-create an important part of Wichita’s African American historical experience. As a teenager, Vesey was one of the participants in the legendary Dockum Drug Store “sit-in” during the summer of 1958. As a retiree, Dr. Vesey has developed what he calls the “Research on Black Wichita: 1945-1958” project. Utilizing a wide variety of source materials, including focus group methodology, individual interviews and various types of documentary evidence, Vesey is completing a manuscript that focuses upon five areas: education; socio-cultural activity; business and economic development; political activity; and religious institutions and spiritual foundations. As he states on the project’s website, his primaryPast and Present: Illuminating Wichita's African American Historyhttp://kmuw.org/post/past-and-present-illuminating-wichitas-african-american-history
25127 as http://kmuw.orgTue, 22 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000Past and Present: Illuminating Wichita's African American HistoryRobert E. Weems Jr. Kudos are in order for Wichita’s James Arbertha and the Power Community Development Corporation for their long standing efforts to renovate the historic Dunbar Theater at 10th and Cleveland.Past and Present: Dunbar Theaterhttp://kmuw.org/post/past-and-present-dunbar-theater
14390 as http://kmuw.orgWed, 20 Mar 2013 17:30:00 +0000Past and Present: Dunbar Theater